James w



J. MAHLON.

GAS METER.

'z SHEETS-SHEET ,1,

AJ. w. MAHLoN.

GAS METER.

PATBNTED APR. 28, 1868.

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Letters .Patent No. 77,298, dated'Apr'il 28, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN GAS-MITTEE Si.v

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it knoxvn thutI, JAMES W. MAHLON, of Brooklyn, 'in the county of Kings, and Stato of New York, have iuv'ontcdavncw and 'useful Improvement in Gas-Meters, of which the following is a full, clear, and1 exact description, lreference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a gasmeter inpart, with my improvementl applied to it.`

Figure 2, 'a transverse section' loi" the same,'takenl as denotedfby the line :n x in iig. 1'; and

Figure 3 a sectional inverted plan through the lower portion of the'meter, in illustrationot` certain devices l for drawing od' the water.-

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parte throughoutthe several figures.

While the collection of water in gas-meters of `the dry vkind or order -is .a common cause of annoyance and i complaint/not only producing ilickeringof the gas,"putt`ing it out by stoppage of the flow of gas, bui' interfering generally with the' proper working of the meter, there' has heretofore been no provision for drawing off water from thebody of the meter otherwise than by disconnecting the meter from'its pipe-attachments, and inverting and shakingit, so as tojrun ofi' the'water'through the usual outlet-pipe of the meter. This is a tedious and inconvenient. arrangement, but the tapserscreavfplug.mmhelstflreprovided on the inlet and' outlet-pipes, have only servedf to-draw oi'the water collecting in .said pipes, andin n oway to relieve the measuring or i workingchambers of.. the meter, that in course or time become so choked with water as materially to interfere `withl the working of: the bellows-like diaphragme, and altogether stopping the action-of the meter. Thevextem sion of'the inlet and outlet-pipes, too, down and outside of the meter, to form reservoirs for collection of the water, is also an objectionable feature, and in this connection more espeeiallyso, providing the' in-let-pipe with a screw-plug cap, covering a water-escupe, as such outlet affords u. ready means for establishing a connectingpipe to draw oli` gas, that is thus consumed without' passing `through the met-er.

My invention. obviates these defeotmand by it a ready means is provided for drawing o ff water that may collect, by sweating or otherwise, inthe meter, including the measuring or working-chambers, or bellows-portion ot' the apparatus, said invention consisting in a combination with thc measuring or worklng-chambers,-and it mayA t be, chamber suppl-ied therefrom, of separate escapes or outlets in communicationwith a `lower water-receiving chamber, and under the control of a. valveor valves, capable of' operation from the exterior in such manner as that while gas is prevented passing from one working-chamber to another of thefmeter, to interfere with the working of the latter, the'water may be run oif or discharged from each of them, and the'body of the meter generally, including (say) indirectly the inletand outlet-pipes, be emptied of water without taking down or dis#` turbing the meter, or without, it may be, (and still the working of the meter not be materially interfered with,) l even shutting off the-gasp, And said invention further emihraces u peculiar construction of devices for accoma plishing these ends, including a valvular device common to all or most of the water-escapes, and hollow dischargefscrcw or plug, that, us itis worked in or 'out,` serves, through a perforation made in its periphery, to establish communication with the interior or exterior of the meter,'accordingly-as it is required to close the waterescapes to thc several chambers, or to establish a free'vent Afor the water to run oii' from them and the meter generally, The invention also includes a peculiar elastic construction of the valvular cover or device to the L water-escapes, whereby it is made more or less automatic in closing, and secure whenclosed..

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A represents theouter shell or case ofthe meter. B, the inletpipc, arranged as usual, to communicate with a distributing-channel or covered way, C, from and through which the gas is passed,hy or 'through valves, V, working over suitable p orts or ways, into the measuring or workingl chambers, D D Dz D3 D D", and out again thereof into the gas-supply chamber, E, in such. manner or order as to cause the diaphragme to be worked to and fro,'a'nd by their action to operate, through the agency of ordinary or other suitabl'e mechanism, a a a, and the usual or any propervme'chanical devices connected therewith, the

chambermmdking up'the body of the meter, may be relieved of water coliectinginy them, withoutdisturbance-for -removal othefmete; and, when the valves are closed, without establishing communication between chambers to interfere with the operation of then meter, substnntia'llyus specified.

a water-escape pipe or outlet,lower water-receivin g chamber and valve, compartment, essentially as herein .set forth, and whereby a single water-escape may serve valvcsuV and indicator' of the'meterpall as well understood by those acquainted with `thenconstruiztion of gas-v meters'.` 0fv course the number .of measuring or working-chambersmay be varied.

.- Ffis'the outlet-pipe fromthe gas-supply chamber E of themeter. Neither this pipe F nor the inlet-pipe B c my'be ext'endcddown' the meter'furthcr' tban-,to'establ'sl' their proper connection, the one with the' chamber E,

and thefeth'er with the covered way C, nor is it 'necessary that either` pipe should be provided with capped or other outletsfor drawing oii the water collecting in them, as other lnlean's, as hereinafter described, are provided `for relieving them hin connection 4with the body generally of the meter, and thus the usual facility for estab-` lishing a surreptitious or irreg'ularconncction with the mcter by branch'froui'the inlet-pipe at the water-escupe l Voutlet is avoided.

` The means for drawing ,o' the witter may be-substnntinllyfas follows ,'Gr'isv achamber or Vlower compartment, arranged below the measuring erfii'orkingfchamhers,'D D Dz Dy DYD, of themeter, and invcoin'tzuhr'iication therewith by water-escupe outlets,"lbl bibs b b". Theorie 'of these measuring-chambers mayb I' I l i @constantly open 'connectiomrby'itsoutlet oroutlets "5; withthe lower compartment G, while the other mens-u ung or workingchambers ,have their outlets 15-l b2b" vlr"'extendcdfa'nd'connected by pipes .el cz ci cl'c* with n'zz'l'es'dd d cl d",

. thathave their `rnc-utils ,or openings controlled so as to open or closetA them 4b'y a vvulve or;valves"operutcd lircnn the erterior, and whichvalvular d'e'vicem'ay bea singleruhberor other cuitably-i'need strip or plate, H, arranged to slide to and from the nozzles didi d3 dltd, and guidedin lsuch action bytpins or rods, e,.that't through n fixed strip, I, in which'the nozzles are secured.- ..f.l.`hegas-supply chamber E'may be similarly p ro'yidedwithl n water-escapefoutletpipe, c, and nozzle,.d, controlled too, say,il bytl1e'vulve or valvular ,device'IL'orits equivalenti.

I ,From this descriptiontit will' be seen'that when theseveral nozzles, ell dl d cl di d,' are closed the valve H, the gasispreventedpassing from one ch'nrmbcrtotlie other, and'so restrained from interferingwiththe regu-l l'lar working of'the meter, but that when said nozzle s,;by the action-oi` the vali/e,` are put in'like open communieation with the chamber Gyash's established for the one measuring-chamber by its outlet orou'tlcts'b, :then the several measuring @working-chambers, D4D" D2 D3 D4 D,V and. supply-chamber E, `togetherlw'ith thelvinlet and outletpipesB. -F,',are Ainlopen connection with `the chamber or vcompartment G, whiclufby its lower level,l thus serves to reocivewater, produced by sweating orotherwisc, that Vmnyhave formed or collectednot simply in thepipes'B'F; but incr-throughout the.scveral; chambers (measuring and supply) that constitute or compose tho body generally o f the mtreryrnByfthis ,meansor in this manner may the whole meter be clearedV of water.

i To dischargethe water' thus collected-in the chamberG, and. to` workthe vulve H, so as to open or close it .asfrequiredfsaid velvet-H' 'muy bici-'attached by a, spring-like connectiomJ, to va hollow screw, that works Athrough'ayliox,.`[ in the-casco? thefnetery'snid hollow screw having its longitudinal passage,f,"thut is open at' its Ainner extremity, terminatoin a sideforitice, g,.wh ich is intermediate of "the length of the screw, so that, on

working thes'crew'K home;not`onlyffisthe valve H closed against the several nozzles, dl-d d dd d, butzthe oritceg, ofV the screw located inside theehamber G of-the lmcter,-while, on working the, screw K sufficiently outwards, the nozzles :gte uncovered, or valve H opened, and theforiceg arranged on tho outside. of, the meter to permit o f the water fe'ollec-ting in the chximber G being'dischargedfthrough the screw. y Thus may the meter, 'throughout itsentire body, be4 tapped of :water with the` greatest facility, from' 'time Vto time, vwithout t'akingdown tliesame, or, ittnay be, cven shuttingoii' the gas. l

Of course, theimeans for opening or closing communication, substantiully'as described, between the several*v working-chambers,ofthemeter and lower water-discharge compartment or pass'bge may be greatly vnriedyns' .also the water-discharge contrivance bechanged, but the' combinationvot devices here shown is found to answer well, an'd possesses'ccrtain advarteges, as., for instance, tho spring-like connection of the valve with 4the screw `giveslunV automatic closing o f the valve in-advance of thescrew being fully worked home, wl\ich7` ,se cures the nozzles being shut, and ,makes a close fit-of lthe valve, as also prevents yit being accidentally 'opened2 by a slight Qturning oi" thescr'ew. The hollow and sideeperforated screw, too, eiiectually prevents leakage of the gns, and onlyestablishsopen communication with theexterierafter and whilst the vulve is open, the said screw, too,

beingpreferably located in a sunken-portion or channcl-way within the chamber G, so as to catch and discharge all water,,hewcver.little,.thstmaytpass'into or collect in said lower chamber.` If preferred, a plain but similetrly hllwe'd and-perforated sliding-pIug or rod, working `through a stating-box, might besubstituted for the 1 ,scrcwnznd the same be drawn inwards by a spring, together with the'volve or valves, so that it would only be 4necessary to'druw4 out'- the plug orrod toopen thenozzles .und effect the discharge, ,and s'o that on releasing holden seid,rod, it `and the valve or valve'swill be automatically closed against establishing discharge or escupe'.

'What is'here claimed, had desired ,to` be secured by'LettersPatent, is I 1. The4 combination, with the cn'easuringfor working-chambers, of separate water-escapes orl outlets lower receiving-chamber or compartment, with valve or valves for operationlin such manner as that the several 2, The combination, with'the supplychsmber, to which gas is admitted from the measuring-compartment, of i i controlling said outlet within-tho latter to relieye-both the `supply-chamber and inletfand outlet-pipes; also, whereby the meter is better protected against being tapped of gas drawn from thefiletpipe, as specified.

8. In combinatibn'fwith the several nozzles or outlets to -thc water-escape pipes, or their equivalents, from the several gaswilumbgers thatV compose, or'mhiuly so, the body of the meter, n valve or valvular device, arranged to simultaneously control said outlets, essentially es described.

4. The hollow'and perforated waterdscharging screw, or its equivalent, inA combination with the valve or valvular device that controls the water-nozzles or outlets to the several gas-chambers, or certain of'them, of the meter, substntinlly as specified.

5. The combination, withl the noter-charging screw, or its equivalent, amlvalve or valvular device, controlling the outlets from the several chambers of the' meter, of an elastic or spring-likev connection interposed between said screw and valve', essentially ns herein set forth.

JAMES W. B 'AHLON l Witnesses:

EDWD. P. TRACY, J. W. CooMBs. 

